“Who’s the girl” is a repeated line. Rey talks about waiting for her parents. The flashback focuses on her being left as a child. The phrasing “but there’s someone who still could” begs the audience to question “who?”.

Johnson just worked with what he was given.

None of that points to any sort of mystery surrounding Rey’s parents. There’s a mystery surrounding Rey’s incredible power, and Rey’s abandonment is a key plot point, but those two plot threads are not the same.

Also, when Maz says “There’s someone who still could”, she explicitly says that she’s not referring to Rey’s parents, but instead to Luke. Her whole speech is basically saying “Forget your parents, your future lies with the Jedi now.” I wish that was where they left it, instead of making Rey’s entire character arc about heritage and bloodline or whatever.

I wasn’t doubting Rey Nobody, I like that element of her character. I just wish they did it in less of a painfully obvious, fourth wall breaking way. I still don’t see any evidence of Rey’s parents being a mystery in TFA, you haven’t provided any evidence to support it. I would like it more if they just treated her heritage as a matter of fact “of course she’s a nobody” sort of thing, and focused Rey’s character arc around her intense Force power and desire for companionship.

There’s tension, but it’s shown in a very abusive way, with Kylo forcing himself on Rey through their connection. The defining moment at the end is Rey choosing to cut off the Force bond, showing that she doesn’t want any of what Kylo is promising. It’s one of many moments in the third act intended to set up Trevorrow’s script, making the sudden director change really jarring.

But the plugging holes bit and the drunken alien were left in. So were all of Hux’s slapstick moments. BB-8 and Hux play the part of comic relief way too much in this movie, and I don’t think Poppa’s edit does enough to remedy that. But I understand if you disagree.

I agree, though, that TLJ took a misstep in making Rey super concerned about identifying her parents. Kylo should have promised something like “I know where your parents are” rather than “who” they are.

Yeah, that would have been better. It would fit in more with Rey’s desire for belonging, and it would feel less meta.

In all seriousness though, I don’t see many romantic undertones in Rey and Kylo’s relationship. Certainly not enough to warrant a “they got married and lived happily ever after” type situation, especially considering all the things Kylo did.

Was Rey’s parentage actually an essential part of her character? That’s what everyone assumed after TFA, but in the movie she basically just drops the question after Maz says they’re never coming back. I feel like Rian directly addressed the Rey theories just to show that he “subverted the fan expectations” or whatever.

Her desire for belonging was essential to her character, and having every character in TFA remark about it tied the question of parentage to it. That’s why calling her no one was so satisfying: people in-universe continue to wonder how she could have such power, just like in the real world.

I feel like you’re misinterpreting TFA. Her desire for belonging is a big part of her character, but her parentage was never a big part of it. It was actually almost never commented on, the only people obsessed with Rey’s parents were the fans. That’s why acknowledging the Rey theories feels like an unnecessary fourth wall break for me, because there’s zero evidence in TFA that Rey’s parents are anyone important.

A: Luke is isolated because there’s a far bigger threat coming. The tragedy is that he had to focus on that while Snoke took advantage of the vacuum. He knows lives are being lost but EVERYTHING could die without his effort. However, he failed to see the enormity of how far the First Order had spread in his absence, and realizes the new generation needs his guidance and can’t solve everything alone.

That’s an amazing idea. I might actually use it in my sequel edits to remove Luke’s surly attitude, while still explaining his absence. The bigger threat would be revealed to be Palpatine, giving that plot twist more foreshadowing.

Was Rey’s parentage actually an essential part of her character? That’s what everyone assumed after TFA, but in the movie she basically just drops the question after Maz says they’re never coming back. I feel like Rian directly addressed the Rey theories just to show that he “subverted the fan expectations” or whatever.

No offense but this feels like the most un-Leia thing to do. I could maybe see it from Luke, only if Snoke tricks him into a force vision of the only solution for the Republic’s survival being a common enemy or something, and Luke is desperate to not fall into the same mistake as the old Jedi. But Leia? After Alderaan, directly allowing innocents to die? That’s not Leia.

Yeah, you may have a point there. I just want to add more of a tragic note to Leia’s character. If it could be done a better way that would be great, but my main goal is to have all 3 original heroes be somewhat responsible for Ben’s fall.

Yeah, that’s what I was trying to go with in my idea. Leia created the First Order as a small terrorist force for the Republic to band against, but when Snoke took over it mutated into a genocidal empire. That caused Leia to reconsider her belief that war is a necessary evil, and led to her founding the Resistance to oppose the regime she accidentally created.

Honestly, the basic idea of Leia creating the First Order as something to unite against is good, I just wouldn’t have her stay in charge of them. She gets in over her head hiring local warlords and imperial remnants to unite and when Snoke comes along with a new vision for them she realizes how badly she fucked up.

Yeah, that could actually be a nice way to give a tragic note to Leia’s character. I’d imagine something like this:

After the end of the war, Leia was disappointed at the new government’s pacifist direction. She created the First Order to keep the Republic united against a common enemy, but when Snoke rose to power, she realized that she had accidentally created a new Empire. When the Senate found out, she became an exile from the government. She tried to make amends by creating the Resistance, but deep down she’s still ashamed of indirectly turning her son to the dark side.

I still don’t really understand. Choking Jabba was really the only remotely dark thing Leia did, and it was after Jabba was heavily implied to rape her. It wouldn’t fit with Leia’s character at all to be this trilogy’s Palpatine equivalent.

Sorry, but that’s almost certainly not a good idea, even for a rewrite. A vengeful Leia becoming the new emperor would be even more of a depressing ending than what we got, and it just doesn’t make sense for the character. She got her home planet blown up by the Empire, and now she wants to emulate them?

I don’t think that’s necessary. I’m happy with how it looks now, since the cut between Rey walking away and the Falcon taking off implies passage of time. If anything, it actually emphasizes that the suns are rising instead of setting, which is a poetic way to close out the story.

The video indicates that there’s a new remaster and restoration of the complete film scores…but the 2018 disney cds with the same art have the same old track listings as the LPs and no bonuses. And this video is from this year…

The video is a bit misleading. They didn’t restore the entire score, they just recreated the OST tracks using the original tapes.

Also, I don’t think anyone has pointed this out yet, but the Trade Federation guys wouldn’t work either. Anakin killed them in Episode III.

In general, I don’t think reusing old shots for the big finale is a good idea. It seems like a big nostalgic fanservice scene would have to be a decision made during production, and it just isn’t feasible here.

I don’t think he killed the entire species.

He didn’t, but those two are recognizably Nute Gunray and his assistant, and Anakin killed them both.